Senate Subcommittee Takes First Steps Toward Reauthorization Of Brownfield Program

Both republican and democratic senators from the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee have met to discuss potential paths forward for a multi-year reauthorization of the Brownfield Program.  During interviews conducted in February and March, committee members indicated that the program is popular and likely to receive bipartisan support.

The original act created under the Brownfield Act of 2002, assisted states and local communities to cleanup abandoned, idle or underutilized sites where contamination did not present a serious enough threat to human health or the environment to be considered for listing on CERCLA's National Priorities List.  The program, which expired in 2006, has continued to be reauthorized on an annual basis; however, members of the Environment and Public Works Committee have indicated optimism that there is strong bipartisan support in both the Senate and the House which would reauthorize and fund the law for an extended period.  In